Are updates to ArcGIS Online Open Data hosted feature services supported?

[TimMinter]

I need to manage data as a geodatabase feature class within my employer's computing environment, and provide it for public discovery and access as an ArcGIS Online hosted feature service shared to our Open Data site.

Has anyone found a best or good practice for doing such a thing cleanly?

I was hoping to publish updated content by overwriting an existing hosted feature service because I could be sure to keep the URL to the service resource constant.  This plan does not work well with ArcGIS Online and Open Data because the item ID changes during the overwrite procedure and updating the URL for a hosted feature service item is not supported.  Overwriting the hosted feature service results in the URL remaining the same, but it breaks all of the Open Data item ID-based access to content (spreadsheet, KML, shapefile, API > GeoJSON, and Metadata) and therefore any web apps that expect the content to be available based on persistent URLs.

[TimMinter · Accepted solution]

Thankfully, time continues to pass... and things continue to change.  I'm clicking the "Unmark as Correct" button on Scott's previously correct answer due to an "unsupported workflow" note during an open case with Esri technical support on a big bonk that happened the last time I tried to run the update script.

Now, the correct answer has become:

• Use ArcMap 10.3 and maybe higher (but test first) to open the source MXD
• File > Share As > Service > Overwrite an existing service
• Note that at 10.3 this procedure does not cause the AGO FL(H) (ArcGIS Online Feature Layer (Hosted)) item to have a new item ID.  Therefore, this workflow does not bust any links one might have made to the Open Data item from things like FGDC metadata online resource tags, data catalogs, and such.

...and go ahead and script it up with Model Builder and/or Python.

[ScottMoore__Olympia_]

The other option, if you are scripting your updates is to use this process which works great!  Updating your hosted feature service for 10.2 | ArcGIS Blog

[TimMinter]

Thanks Scott Moore​, useful info and a good option when work-arounds are needed. 

And... that process looks like it lives in the "unsupported workflow" realm from Esri tech support's perspective.  Under currently high licensing costs and related Esri services, it seems to me that we realize the best value by sticking with "supported workflows" as a best practice.